The Magsasaka Party-List has welcomed the commitment of the administration’s senatorial candidates to uphold the exclusive right of small-scale fisherfolk to fish in municipal waters.
Under the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991 and the Fisheries Code of 1998, municipal waters extend 15 kilometers outward from the coastlines of municipalities, cities, and provinces.
Magsasaka Party-List first nominee Leonardo Montemayor stressed the urgent need to overturn a recent ruling by the Supreme Court’s First Division, which upheld an earlier decision by the Malabon Regional Trial Court in the Mercidar Fishing Corporation case.
Montemayor, a former Agriculture Secretary and co-author of the Fisheries Code, pointed out that the RTC ruling declared as unconstitutional the LGC provision granting local governments authority over municipal waters. The decision also nullified the preferential right of small-scale fisherfolk—enshrined in both the Constitution and the Fisheries Code—to utilize these waters.
He echoed the concerns of various fisherfolk groups, warning that the court rulings threaten the livelihoods of artisanal fishers, crab harvesters, seaweed growers, and others who depend on municipal waters for survival.
“Moreover, the entry of commercial fishing vessels will endanger corals, other marine resources, fish sanctuaries, and protected areas that are located within municipal waters,” Montemayor emphasized.
